The Trustee Senate will look at the challenges scheme Trustees face and ask how they can best address some of these challenges. It will also explore what the future is likely to hold for Trustees and assess the common themes emerging.

This webinar will look at the issue of mental health wellbeing in the workplace – asking the steps employers can take to improve the mental health of their employees; and looking at how things such as early intervention strategies can help.

The US equity investment environment has gradually shifted from active management to passive investing in both institutional and retail channels in recent years.

The US Large Cap Core Strategy provides exposure to quality US companies with sustainable competitive advantages and the ability to generate significant cash flow. We look for the best companies, at the right valuation, and hold for the long-term.

This new paper examines the increased focus on Responsible Investment in all its various forms, and reflects the growing awareness from investors globally that non-financial risks may have a meaningful impact on long-term financial performance.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to Responsible Investment, including the main approaches and the investor landscape.

PBGC absorbs a further US$31m

US - The Pension Benefits Guaranty Corp (PBGC), believed to be US$22.8bn in deficit, has assumed $31m in pension liabilities on behalf of Falcon Products and subsidiary Shelby Williams.

The PBGC said it would assume some $31.6m of the $33m shortfall on behalf of the companies, which cover 2300 workers and retirees and filed for bankruptcy protection in January, 2005. The companies applied to the PBGC to terminate plans in June.

The Falcon Products Retirement Plan and the Shelby Williams Industries Employees Pension Plan ended as of end August, 2005. The funds are together only 44% funded, with around $26m in assets to cover nearly $59m in promised benefits. A third pension plan covering some 70 employees and retirees of another Falcon Products subsidiary, Sellers & Josephson, has remained ongoing pending PBGC's appeal of the bankruptcy court's decision on plan terminations.

According to the PBGC, the court erred by finding that Falcon Products and the other bankrupt companies could not afford the three plans together, rather than considering each plan on a separate basis. “The agency believes such an analysis would have shown that the Sellers & Josephson Inc. Employees Pension Plan could be maintained by Falcon Products,” PBGC wrote in a statement.

The PBGC currently guarantees payment of basic pension benefits earned by 44m American workers and retirees participating in over 31 000 private-sector DB pension plans.

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is consulting on changes to the actuarial assumptions it uses in valuations in a bid to better reflect the bulk annuity market, with schemes set to move into surplus on aggregate.